Digital audience measurement is getting better: measurers are on the lookout for “fraudulent” views, are working to include only “viewable” impressions, and are measuring what percentage of people reached by a campaign actually belong to the group the advertiser was paying for. So what’s next?

Half of consumers around the world say they’re actively trying to lose weight, and 75% of them plan to achieve that goal by changing their diet. But the road to good health isn’t always paved with good intentions. So do desires materialize where it counts—at the point of sale?

Despite our best intentions to eat healthily, the contents of our shopping carts don’t always align with our objectives. And when we look around the globe, not everyone places health attributes atop their list of important considerations when they shop for food.

Global consumer confidence ended 2014 with an index score of 96—a decline of two index points from the previous quarter, which comes after several quarters of positive momentum. The index, which has been on a slow and steady rise for about two years, is still above a pre-recession level of 94 from third-quarter 2007.

We’ve just completed a year of transformation in the retail industry, and looking at 2015, it looks like change will remain constant. But change brings opportunity, even within the familiar. Where to begin? Look to the shelf.

Health and wellness are hot topics around the globe, and they have been for years. Despite the immense amount of attention devoted to the topic, however, the obesity rate is high—and rising. The good news, however, is that consumers around the world are taking steps to take charge of their health.

The Baby Boomer generation continues to play a major role in the housing market, as well as the U.S. economy more generally. Older households are less likely to move and purchase homes, but their sheer size and relative wealth means this generation will account for $1 out every $4 spent on new home purchases or rent in the next five years.

For over 50 years, there was only a single "app" for TV viewers. The sole function of that app—the cable or satellite company—was to stream premium video content. The facts of yesterday’s TV viewing no longer hold. There are now many TV viewing apps available. Enter "the appification of TV."

Perceptions about private-label brands are favorable around the world, but value shares are not correspondingly distributed; they are much higher in developed regions like Europe, North America and Australia.

All established companies must address a key challenge: How to find the next disruptive innovation while reacting to the disruptive innovations of others. To use the language of this year's TIBCO conference, how can one “ride the disruption wave”? Mitch Barns explores three things he's found that can play a big role.

The problem with brand value is simple: no one agrees on it. The GE brand value, for example, in 2011, was variously estimated to be worth $30.5B, $42.8B, and $50.3B by different valuation services. So if valuations vary so wildly, how can CMOs and CFOs begin to understand the value they deliver with their marketing spending?

Global consumer confidence edged up one index point in the third quarter to a score of 98—up from 97 in the previous quarter and up two points from the start of the year. The index, which has been on a slow and steady rise since Q1 2012, has now exceeded a pre-recession level of 94 for three consecutive quarters.

Today, a company’s reputation is increasingly recognized as a business asset that is central to maintaining and growing business value. Despite this recognition, however, corporate competencies around reputation measurement often lag. So “How do you measure corporate reputation?”

The ad industry has always been consumed with the latest trends. This should be no surprise, given that marketers and their agencies spend the better part of their days trying to create them. But nothing in advertising has generated more buzz in recent months than programmatic buying. Buying ad inventory more efficiently by applying rules to technology-enabled, automated purchases has marketers salivating.

Who doesn’t love a good snack? As snack manufacturers look to tailor offerings to deliver snacks that appeal to both the palate and the psyche, knowing what drives a consumer to pick one snack rather than another is vital to stay competitive in the $374 billion worldwide snacking industry.

Across the globe, shoppers are increasingly turning to the web to buy the things they need. But some categories are benefiting more than others. The online market for consumable goods—due to their hands-on buying nature and perishability—is comparably smaller than for non-consumables—durables and entertainment-realted products. Nevertheless, the global audience is willing and eager to shop the web.

Successful companies in the private sector have gained deep insight into consumer psychology and individual and collective decision-making. Public policy leaders and program managers can make use of these insights to improve significantly the likelihood of success in achieving their policy goals.

Global consumer confidence increased one index point to 97 in the second quarter of 2014, marking the highest level since first-quarter 2007This forward momentum comes after a stagnant 2013, when confidence was stubbornly stuck at 94 for three out of four quarters.

Earlier this week, I had the honor of participating in a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival. The topic—“Global trends that will affect us all”—hit on the key issues that will shape our economies and cultures for the next 20 years.

Do consumers really care about conscious capitalism when it comes to buying decisions? Are they willing to pay more for products and services that come from companies that engage in actions that further some social good? For a growing number of consumers around the world, the answer is yes.

From power tools to bikes, to electronics and even to cars, people around the globe are leveraging the unused capacity of things they already own or services they can provide for a profit. Welcome to the share economy.

Around the globe, more consumers say they’re feeling confident. In the first quarter of 2014, global consumer confidence returned to a pre-recession level with an index score of 96—the highest score since first-quarter 2007. And there are other positive signs: perceptions of local job prospects improved in all regions except Latin America; recessionary sentiment improved in 68 percent of markets; and discretionary spending intentions increased in all regions.

The world’s population is getting older and many consumers say the world isn’t prepared for the shift. According to the World Health Organization, 2 billion people will be at least 60 years old by 2050, which raises questions and concerns for consumers as well as industries.

Global consumer confidence held steady with an index of 94 at the end of 2013, rounding out three consecutive quarters at that confidence level. Discretionary spending declined in all regions, many regions still feel mired in recession, and Asia-Pacific posted the only regional consumer confidence increase in Q4.

As the fastest growing multicultural segment in the U.S. with an outsized impact on the consumer marketplace, Asian Americans have emerged as a powerful economic force. The group’s buying behaviors and viewing patterns, however, are different and unique from the total population.

Today’s consumers face a growing array of devices and ways to encounter content–giving them the choice to connect anytime, anywhere. Given that more than 90 percent of Americans tune in to the radio each week, understanding how this fits into consumers’ total engagement will help marketers best reach their audience.

The U.S. market has been tough recently on many of the big consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, after many years during which the leading players typically fared quite well. The advantage the leaders historically derived from their scale and scope is no longer what it once was, leaving big companies wondering how to adjust.

The shopper and retailer landscape in Asia-Pacific has been shifting on a fundamental level over the past decade, but we’ve also seen marked changes over the past year. While less-recent changes have particularly centered around drivers of store choice, newer shifts are reflective of much different attributes.

The shopper and retailer landscape in Asia-Pacific has been shifting on a fundamental level over the past decade, but we’ve also seen marked changes over the past year. While less-recent changes have particularly centered around drivers of store choice, newer shifts are reflective of much different attributes.

Marketers who can connect with sports fans have a captive audience. That’s because sports fans are connected and passionate when they’re engaged. And for sports like football, which compete with the holiday shopping season for attention, it’s crucial to deliver the right message in the right environment at the right time.

Integrated multi-screen campaigns are important today in effectively delivering a marketing message. However, client-side marketers, agencies and media sellers expect that importance to grow dramatically more important three years from now.

Earning consumer devotion to a brand or store takes more than just offering a good product. That’s why getting to the heart of what makes a consumer stick or switch can be the difference between flourishing and fading.

Global consumer confidence measured an index level of 94 in Q3 2013, flat from Q2, but sentiment brightened notably in the U.S. and Europe. In the latest round of the survey, consumer confidence increased in 57% of the markets Nielsen measures, up from 45% in the previous quarter.

Marketers continue to gradually increase their global ad spending, as expenditures grew 3.5 percent in the second quarter of 2013 and 3.5 percent on a year-over-year basis for the January-June periods of 2013 and 2012.

With the global middle class growing by 70 million each year, and food prices expected to more than double within the next two decades, the world is entering an unprecedented period of rising demand, economic pressure and aspirationally driven buying behavior.

With a current buying power of $1 trillion that is forecasted to reach $1.3 trillion dollars by the year 2017, the importance of connecting with African-American consumers is more important than ever. Importantly, these consumers are distinct from other consumer groups, and understanding them is critical to making lasting connections.

Smartphone penetration in the Asia-Pacific region is booming. So it's more critical than ever for companies to develop sophisticated mobile strategies designed to leverage changing connected device behaviors and cultivate ongoing consumer engagement.

Whether it’s advertising via old standbys like TV, newspapers and radio or newer media like mobile and online, earning consumer trust is the holy grail of a successful campaign. The good news for advertisers is that consumers around the globe are more trusting now than they were several years ago.

The road to better jobs, more money and improved lifestyles is all paved by education. More than three-quarters of global online respondents agree that receiving a higher education, such as college, is important and three-fourths believe educational opportunities can lead to better employment and higher income.

While the DVR has become a staple in 50 percent of U.S. homes and has helped changed the way consumers watch video, it’s not the only way consumers can watch on their own terms. Homes without the additional hardware can also watch on their own terms thanks to expanding VOD accessibility.

The path to purchase for innovation in Asia is a long one, as consumers are typically wary of new products and services. Given the rise in innovation in Asia and existing consumer tendencies regarding new products, Nielsen has identified five key ways to succeed with innovation in Asia.

The path to purchase for innovation in Asia is a long one, as consumers are typically wary of new products and services. Given the rise in innovation in Asia and existing consumer tendencies regarding new products, Nielsen has identified five key ways to succeed with innovation in Asia.

Female empowerment is growing across Asia as women secure better and more independent incomes, higher education and gender equality. In tandem, women’s spending power has increased exponentially in recent years, which will likely benefit a number of sectors, particularly grocery retailers and FMCG manufacturers.

With the increasing number of supermarkets across the Philippines, Filipino shopping habits are shifting: shoppers are making “top-up” shopping trips in supermarkets more frequently, and visiting the supermarket more frequently is becoming the norm.

The demand to measure the return on investment for marketing spending accurately has never been greater. Big data holds the keys to this kingdom, but harnessing and utilizing an overabundance of quality data has not historically been an easy feat.

Do consumers care if the companies they buy products and services from are socially responsible? The models that companies adopt for their corporate social responsibility efforts continue to evolve, but what impact do the varied strategies have on consumer sentiment?

Global consumer confidence increased one point to an index of 94 in the second quarter, according to consumer confidence findings from Nielsen. The increase is part of a slow, but steady upward movement in consumer sentiment reported in the first half of the year.

Advertising spend continues to rebound globally, though increases slowed in the first quarter of 2013. According to Nielsen’s quarterly Global AdView Pulse report, global advertising grew just 1.9 percent to $76.6 billion from the first quarter of 2012.

With seven billion people living in the world, new findings from a Nielsen global survey revealed that when it comes to core fundamental lifestyle values centered on family, education or religious aspirations, we are more alike than we are different. What drives our shopping preferences, however, can vary considerably depending on where we live.

In the spectrum of evolving media, nothing is growing faster than the adoption of portable devices and the consumption of content on these devices. At the same time, traditional TV remains vibrant and continues to thrive.

A significant part of the world’s advertising dollars is wasted because companies are unable to accurately track campaign resonance and reaction. Neuroscience, the study of the brain and nervous system, can address this age-old need.

Ad spend remains one of the biggest and most strategic resource allocation decisions that the management of any leading consumer marketing company has to make. So the speed of change in the world of media and advertising is creating new uncertainties in the executive suite.

2012 closed out on a positive note for the ad industry: globally, ad spend increased 3.2 percent year-over-year to $557 billion. A strong third quarter, which saw growth of 4.3 percent, helped drive the annual uptick. Ad spend growth then receded to a more modest 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter.

To drive profitable growth in the U.S., companies should return their focus to consumers, and their strategies need to tap purchasing behaviors and mindsets that are reflective of the recent recession, the proliferation of retail channels and innovations in technology.